Matt Damon’s Beer-Braised Brett Kavanaugh Finds A Constitutional Loophole For Trump’s Third Term
Few things capture the current state of constitutional discourse quite like Matt Damon’s Saturday Night Live imagining of Brett Kavanaugh, drunk after ordering a “6-3 decision” (i.e., six Bud Lights and three shots of Jamo), solemnly explaining that Donald Trump can serve a third term because he found the “original Constitution” and wrote “SIKE” at the end of it — presumably in Sharpie, right next the 22nd Amendment. It’s the kind of joke that works because it feels only marginally more ridiculous than the actual legal theories currently floating around American politics.
The sketch immediately went viral online, with entertainment outlets and viewers alike latching onto the sheer dumb elegance of the bit: Trump allegedly discovering a constitutional loophole by vandalizing America’s founding document. The cold open was less “political satire” and more “lightly fictionalized documentary.” More than anything else, though, the sketch landed because it said the quiet part out loud: a growing number of Americans genuinely believe this Supreme Court could eventually try to find a way to let Trump run for a third term.
Of course, this is hardly the first time Damon’s Kavanaugh has become instant SNL canon. His original 2018 appearance screaming about beer and calendars during the confirmation hearings remains one of the show’s most memorable political cold opens. The “sike Constitution” gag may be the purest distillation yet of the Court’s current public image: less solemn guardians of precedent, more guys workshopping constitutional interpretation after a whisky drink, a vodka drink, a lager drink, and a cider drink.
Check out the sketch below:
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
